Altered Beast Review
PROS
- Old-school beat'em-up style.
- Challenging boss fights.
- You can be a werewolf and a GOLDEN werewolf!
CONS
- Dated gameplay and graphics only a mothe- I mean nostalgic fan could love.
- Accelerometer controls?
VERDICT
Altered Beast is a classic in many senses, but while it's great to see the game republished it's most certainly not remastered; a great conversion for the Mega Drive back in the day, but a bit sloppy for modern gamers.
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SEGA have been busy in their mineshafts, digging down through the lower strata of their video game release bedrock and recently managed to recover and repackage a classic that just about everyone from the 90s should remember - Altered Beast.
As a spirit summoned by Zeus to fight off the evil Neff you are able to to collect spirit balls in order to power up and transform in to were-creatures over five different stages. Each level scrolls automatically, forcing you to continually fight off various demons until you can make the final transformation and fight against the level boss. It's an interesting concept that's made all the more challenging for its quirky hit detection and odd enemy AI, but the game's virtual controls are rarely at fault and you're more likely to die from a cheap-shot from the boss than a poorly timed tap.
While it's understandable that SEGA are continuing to emulate titles from the Mega Drive, Altered Beast has aged quite badly in terms of gameplay and especially in the visuals that are often cluttered thanks to excessive detail reproduced with a limited palette. A re-release of the Arcade version would have been far better for iDevices as it still looks great even today.
If you have a hankering for old-school beat'em-ups, Altered Beast will provide you with at least a bit of satisfaction as you attempt to conquer this extremely unforgiving title. Better yet, if you have a friend with the game, link up for some multiplayer fun - but whatever you do, just avoid the accelerometer controls.
Screenshots
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